The main event of Saturday's UFC 277 was the rematch between Julianna Pena and Amanda Nunes. The first fight between these two ended shockingly when Pena finished Nunes by rear naked choke in the second round. Normally this would have come out yesterday, but I just haven't been feeling up to it the last couple of days. This should be out later in the day on Tuesday and then back to a normal schedule. This fight had a lot of questions and a lot of debate during the week because it wasn't clear exactly why the first fight went the way it did. Some thought Amanda's heart just wasn't in it anymore now that she had a family and others were chalking it up to just a fluke thing. I never thought it was a fluke as Pena forced Amanda to gas out and put her in all of those bad positions. However, after this weekend, it does seem like there was something not quite right with Amanda in that first fight because she was back to her old self this time out. We're going to talk about what I thought of each woman's performance and what could be on the horizon for them.
We'll start with the new champion, Amanda Nunes. She was able to return to form and get back to her dominant self that we knew before the first Pena fight. She really controlled the fight in all areas. Her striking was crisp and powerful. She dropped Pena 3 times in the second round and hurt her on a couple of other occasions. She was able to take Pena to the ground basically whenever she wanted to. The biggest thing that people were talking about was her cardio and that was virtually a non-issue in this one. Outside of one armbar attempt that was only partially in, Amanda controlled the entire fight. Pena landed some punches and didn't do completely nothing, but it was so little in comparison to what Nunes was doing that it went overlooked. This was just the type of performance that wouldn't have surprised anyone had that last fight not happened. It sort of just leaves us to wonder exactly why Amanda looked so bad in the first fight. She was recovering from COVID, which seems like the likely culprit. Even though she was "healthy" (as healthy as someone can be after a full camp) going into the fight, maybe she wasn't able to train as hard or as often as she normally would have. That could be what caused her to have no cardio. Maybe there was another injury that impacted her early in the camp that limited her ability to train in those early weeks. It's impossible to say exactly, but it seems to indicate that Nunes was limited in some fashion going into that fight because that was just a different version of her. That was also the first time she had cut to 135 lbs in a couple of years, so that could have had something to do with it as well.
Deciding what is next for Nunes is not an easy decision. She is a double champion and still doesn't really have a clear next opponent. Women's featherweight isn't a division and now that Felicia Spencer is gone, it is even less of one. Even if Amanda wants to go up, I don't think there's even an option to suggest. That brings us back to bantamweight. I think the fight that everyone wants to see is Nunes vs Shevchenko, but I'm not sure how likely it is. Valentina seemed to kind of dismiss the idea of it after her close win over Taila Santos, but if not now, I don't think it is ever going to happen. With both women starting to age, it doesn't feel like there is going to be too many more opportunities to make that fight happen. I think that has to be the fight to make for that reason alone. If they really need another reason, I'm not really sure what the other options would be. I suppose that the trilogy with Pena and Ketlen Vieira are the other two choices, but I'm not sure anyone is really hoping for those right now either. I think it would be best to see Pena pick up another victory before putting her back in there with Amanda again, but you never know. I think Vieira has earned the shot considering the state of the division, but I don't think anyone really cares to see that fight that much. I've been saying it all year that I think they have to make the Nunes vs Valentina trilogy soon and now has to be the time.
Julianna Pena lost her title in her very first defense and it wasn't particularly pretty. With that said, it really didn't feel like there was anything she was going to do to win the fight on Saturday. She was largely just a step behind, which wasn't too surprising. She was always going to have a hard time early, but her hope was that she could wear Amanda down and then take advantage after she slowed down like the first fight. When Amanda didn't slow down after the second round, it was almost assuredly going to end poorly for her. Pena couldn't compete on the feet with a fresh Amanda and she kept getting dropped over and over. After that, she was taken down without too much issue and then Julianna was content to fight off of her back. The amount of damage she had taken probably had a lot to do with that and at that point, a hail Mary armbar or triangle off of her back was probably her best chance of winning to be honest. She had the one armbar attempt that was in an ok position, but other than that, she was getting beaten up pretty badly. If there's any positives to takeaway from this fight for Pena it is that she has all of the heart that she's been claiming to have. She didn't quit on herself and even after she had taken a beating, she kept throwing up submission attempts. It obviously doesn't change anything in terms of the result, but I think it counts for something. While it was a brutal loss, I don't think Pena drops too far down the list of potential contenders since she's made a name for herself in this division over the last year.
Ultimately, I don't think an immediate trilogy is in anyone's best interest. Running back a fight that had a judge score it 50-43 with nothing in between isn't likely to draw a ton of interest on its own. I think the best path for Pena is to pick up a win and then potentially look to get the trilogy fight after that. If they actually want to make a true number one contender fight, then having Pena fight Vieira is the clearest way to do so. If they want to preserve as many contenders as possible or if Vieira is fighting Nunes next, I think someone like Irene Aldana (if she beats Macy Chiasson in her next fight) or Yana Kunitskaya would make a degree of sense. That could set Pena up to get her legs back under her and have some momentum going into a potential trilogy or a fight with Valentina Shevchenko if she were able to beat Nunes. Before any of that, I would like to see Pena take some time to recover as she took a ton of damage in that fight. Obviously, she was cut up pretty badly, but she was also dropped several times and needs to make sure that she is ready to go before she gets back in the gym. That's the kind of damage that could make someone reconsider what they want to do with their lives and change someone, so I think taking some time to just recover and nothing else is well warranted at this stage for her.
What did you guys think of the fight? Did anything surprise you? Who do you want to see Amanda Nunes fight next and why is it Valentina Shevchenko? What do you think is the best route for Julianna Pena? Leave any and all thoughts below. Thanks for reading and have a good one.
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